The Tokina 20mm f2 firin Review

The Tokina 20mm f2 FiRIN lens is company’s first entry into creating lenses for the full frame Sony E mount lineup of cameras. After speaking with the company at Photokina last year, we learned that this will be the only option with manual focus-only capabilities. As it is, the 20mm f2 is one of the wider angle prime lenses available for full frame Sony E Mount cameras that also has full focusing and exposure communication.
As it’s been an incredible pleasure to use.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Small
Lightweight
Very smooth focusing
Superb image quality that I’ve always expected from Tokina
Cons

Some may complain about the manual focus only operation, but at an angle this wide I can’t be bothered too much by it.
Gear Used

I tested the Tokina 20mm f2 FiRIN lens with the Sony a7R

Tech Specs

Specs taken from my first impressions post

Focal Length 20mm
Aperture Maximum: f/2
Minimum: f/22
Camera Mount Type Sony E (Full-Frame)
Format Compatibility 35mm Film / Full-Frame Digital Sensor
Angle of View 92.6°
Minimum Focus Distance 11.02″ (28 cm)
Maximum Reproduction Ratio 1:10.3
Elements/Groups 13/11
Diaphragm Blades 9
Features
Autofocus No
Physical
Filter Thread Front: 62 mm
Dimensions (DxL) Approx. 2.72 x 3.21″ (69 x 81.5 mm)
Weight 1.08 lb (490 g)

This is a lens with pretty stellar build overall. The outside feels like metal and even kind of gets cold like it. There is a full working aperture ring and a smooth focusing ring that lets you be precise without limiting your focusing abilities. The lens overall is arguably one of the best made for the Sony E mount with the exception of lacking weather sealing.